Bill Text: NY K00902 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Honoring St. Patrick and all persons of Irish descent upon the occasion of the 2024 celebration of St. Patrick's Day on Sunday, March 17, 2024

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2024-03-04 - adopted [K00902 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-K00902-Introduced.html

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Assembly Resolution No. 902

BY: M. of A. Fitzpatrick

        HONORING  St.  Patrick  and  all  persons of Irish
        descent upon the occasion of the 2024 celebration of
        St. Patrick's Day on Sunday, March 17, 2024

  WHEREAS,  A  native  of  Roman  Britain,  Patrick  was  the  son  of
Calpurnius, a civil servant and deacon; and

  WHEREAS,  Tradition  has  it  that  at age 16, Patrick was captured,
along with all the servants of his father's estate, by Irish  marauders,
then  sold  to  a  Druid  chief and taken to what is now known as County
Antrim, in the Province of Ulster, Ireland; and

  WHEREAS, During his six years of captivity, Patrick's occupation  as
a slave was the tending of flocks of swine and sheep; and

  WHEREAS,  While  in  Ireland, Patrick learned the Irish language and
customs; and

  WHEREAS,  During  this  period,  Patrick  experienced  a   religious
awakening, with the Christian teachings of his family and pastors taking
hold during his captivity; and

  WHEREAS,  Driven by visions urging him to return to his native land,
Patrick escaped his captors,  undertaking  a  perilous  journey  in  the
process; and

  WHEREAS,  Upon  his  return  home,  Patrick  dedicated  his  life to
religion, studying in France, where he was ordained a priest  and  later
consecrated a Bishop; and

  WHEREAS,  It  was  Pope Celestine I who named him Patricius and sent
him back to Ireland, where he tangled with  the  Druids  over  religious
beliefs and where his efforts to convert the Irish to the Catholic faith
were untiring, as seen today in the significant presence of God in Irish
life; and

  WHEREAS,  It  was  the  example  and  fervor of Patrick's faith that
inspired and rekindled the lamp  of  learning  in  Ireland  which  shone
throughout the British Isles and the rest of Europe, and which sustained
the people of Ireland through famine, oppression and exile; and

  WHEREAS,   As   United  States  President  John  Fitzgerald  Kennedy
observed, Ireland has hemorrhaged herself to enrich the life's blood  of
other  nations around the world, where its sons and daughters have risen
to prominent positions as pioneers, educators, military  commanders  and
government  leaders, even ascending to the Presidency of both France and
the United States; and

  WHEREAS, It was his faith that earned Patrick  not  only  sainthood,
but the everlasting love and respect of the Irish people; and

  WHEREAS,  As  we  honor  St. Patrick, whose life mirrored a deep and
abiding example of the challenges of sainthood, we are  mindful  of  the

history  of  the  Irish  people  and  their struggle against oppression,
religious intolerance and political, social and economic barriers;  now,
therefore, be it

  RESOLVED,  That  this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
most joyously commemorate the life and good works of St. Patrick and  to
express its sincerest prayers and hopes that the 1998 Belfast Agreement,
known   as   the   Good   Friday  Agreement,  will  lead  to  a  lasting
reconciliation between the Christian populations of Northern Ireland and
bring true peace and freedom for all the people of Northern Ireland; and
be it further

  RESOLVED, That copies of this  Resolution,  suitably  engrossed,  be
transmitted  to  Maggie  C. Timoney, 263rd Grand Marshal of the New York
City St. Patrick's Day Parade; and Sean Lane, Chairman of the  New  York
City  St.  Patrick's Day Parade Board of Directors, on the 17th of March
2024.